


Simul stabunt, vel simul cadent

by DesireeU



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Demons, F/M, Rituals, Vampires, in which for once is Ray the psycho bitch, may add more tags as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 03:55:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16339346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesireeU/pseuds/DesireeU
Summary: Serena has always been proud of being a member of Academia, and one of their better demons at that. Yet, after longing for so long to get assigned to a worthwhile mission, she gets eaten by doubt when she finally gets what she asked for.But Ray doesn't have space for hesitation; she will make sure that Zarc sleeps forever, not matter by what means.





	1. Misplaced Trust

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually written for Zarcray Week, like my previous Arc-V works, but since it was part of a bigger stories I preferred not posting it on his own as a oneshot. Now that I've finally found the courage to write up this story, it's finally going up! Originally made for the prompt "Trust".
> 
> I have such a thing for Demon AUs, so I hope you'll enjoy this!

Moonlight poured through the broken stained glass, casting fractals of shadows in the empty church.

 

_ Almost _ empty.

 

Ray ran through the silent, devastated hallways and into the lower chambers,  _ his _ laugh mocking her and the only sign she was still being followed,  _ hunted _ . She dodged and skipped debris as she tried to calm her breathing, tried to focus; she was going to become the hunter, and put that wretched soul into eternal rest, be it the last thing she’d do.

 

Fiddling with her keys - _ and he was just allowing her to do so, she was sure _ \- she slipped into the one room that shouldn’t be accessed by regular means. But this wasn’t a regular situation, either.

 

“Ran out of places to hide into, sister?” he laughed behind her, just as she was recollecting her thoughts on what was where and what to do. The wind impossibly picked up and the door slammed shut behind her.

 

She was trapped inside with him. There was no turning back now.

 

The demon slowly circled her, stil chuckling, but Ray kept her lips tight and eyes focused ahead in what she hoped was confidence.

 

“Soon you’ll laugh no more,  _ Zarc _ . I am not afraid of you.”

Names held power, and she needed to hold as much power as she could.

 

Zarc erupted in a laugh even louder than before: “Oh, and what could a little, helpless nun all alone do? Do you know what  _ I _ could do to  _ you _ ? How easily I could enter you, break you, have you saying and doing the filthiest of things, before discarding you like my other used puppets?” he chuckled again, seemingly very amused, then his voice dropped down in an almost sultry way: “Even though that would be almost a waste, you know there are so many other ways I could  _ enter _ you…”

 

She shivered as he dragged his clawed finger along her hip, side, underbreast...she finally recoiled, pushing him away to further the distance. This was wrong. Her shivers should be of disgust, of fear,  _ anything _ but temptation.

 

“I’ve  _ trusted  _ you,” she spat, losing her cool to the venom in her wounded heart: “and you fooled me one too many times, but this ends,  _ now _ .”

 

“My Ray, my  _ sweet ray of sunshine _ ,” he cooed, dangerously close once again, one hand on her cheek and the other twirling a strand lock of hair: “you can still trust me, my dear...I’d never hurt you, you know…”

“A bit too late for that,” she replied in defiance, but her legs already felt shaky.

“And I’ve already apologized, but if you just come with me...my love, you and I are going to  _ change the world _ !” Zarc’s face and his smile were all charm, despite the frightening demonic features, and Ray felt herself waver at his sweet lies, allowing him to play with her crucifix.

 

“You don’t care for humans, you know what a rotten, filthy, poisonous race they are...let us wipe them all out, purify this world with fire! The heavenly forces you worship, I once was one too...so wouldn’t it feel natural to worship me, as well?”

 

His hold on the crucifix tightened, and Ray was sure he was going to rip it away, but he just used it to pull her a breath away from his lips: “Oh, but I wouldn’t ask that of you. Unlike  _ your God _ , I don’t need that, I don’t want to subjugate you...all I want is for you to become one with me, my equal, my partner,  _ my queen _ …”

 

A dangerous idea crossed her mind, and that was it, to hell her original plan; Ray erased the distance between them in a lip-crushing kiss, and Zarc was all too eager to reply.

 

That was her chance.

 

By the time the demon felt the pressure at the pit of his stomach, it was too late. 

He squirmed, trying to get free, to break the kiss, but each struggle sent even more pain down his body. It felt as if he was being filled by needles, and barely acknowledged the nun’s hands behind his back digging their nails impossibly deep into his flesh.

 

A soft breeze around them picked up to howling storm and Zarc felt as if inside a tornado, unable to breathe, the ravaging winds slamming his now useless wings and tail where they pleased. Feathers started to fall and it was then that Ray broke the kiss to allow the wounded demon to look at his end closing in, and the source of the storm.

 

“No…” it was an unbelieving whisper first, then Zarc erupted into a scream of denial as he saw the light blooming under them, taking the form of an ancient seal: “No, no, no NO! This can’t be! How can you be not human?! How could _ -I- _ have not noticed it? I’m the Supreme King! I can’t--”

 

Ray removed a hand from his back, sending blood flying in the ethereal winds like cherry blossoms, and put a finger dyed in red on the demon’s lips. 

 

“No matter the race or power of a being, their hearts are always so fragile,” she murmured, her eyes now glazed over and her smile a mixture of satisfaction and pity: “to think I was trusting you enough to almost reveal you my true nature...but you had to ruin everything, thinking you could have brought forth your own apocalypse,”

 

Zarc’s eyed widened in fear for the first time in his life, and Ray took that moment of weakness to bite and tear her own lips, just to reunite them with Zarc’s once more, biting him as well.

 

As their blood mixed, she felt her power amplify to the edge of pain, and fade at the same time, and was blinded by the seal underneath splitting into four. Relief washed through her, as well as fear, and sadness: the ritual had worked.

 

It was a dangerous chance she took, since that ritual was successful only between soulmates, and she almost laughed at the bitterness of fate, fully realizing that’s what they were only then.

 

She wondered how things could have been between them, if Zarc didn’t take his own downfall; but soulmates meant also that no matter how many times fate would strike them down, they would find a way to reunite again.

 

And when that time would come, she hoped he would  _ recognize _ her, instead of underestimatingly, blindly trust her.


	2. And the Hunt Begins

“You don’t understand, you _need_ to introduce me to your new friend!”

 

Shun barely had the time to put down the grocery bags -unneeded, but a necessary cover and a welcome change to their taste buds- , that Ruri was already at his side, lightly grabbing at his sleeve. He sighed.

 

“Ruri, I already told you, he started out as a prey, sure, but Yuto’s _off-limits_ now...unless by some miracle we get to tell him who we are, and he willingly offers himself, that is.”

 

“It’s different,” Shun aborted the ‘ _put away the groceries_ ’ mission and went for the sofa, Ruri in tow: “even without meeting up close I feel like I really need to know him. He smells just...so familiar. For some reason, I feel incredibly attracted.”

 

Shun plopped down on the sofa, and Ruri immediately sat on him lap, locking her arms around his neck and shoulders as if he could try and run away from the discussion. The young man sighed; of all the traits they could have shared, why did it have to be stubbornness?

 

“ _I’m serious,_ ” she continued: “it feels like I know him. He feels _mine_.”

He tussled her hair: “Maybe you’re just hungry, when was the last time you had a proper meal?”

But he knew too well the serious face Ruri was giving him. She really meant what she said, for as nonsensical as it sounded.

 

“You know I eat properly, you always make way too sure of that...we’re gonna get caught if you keep on being this overzealous, you know?”

She was chiding him again, but at least she had changed subject. Shun held her, tightly: “What would be the point of surviving Academia’s attacks if I were to lose you to hunger?! It’s something I can’t risk, Ruri. You mean too much to me.”

 

The girl nestled her face between his shoulder and chest for a moment, nuzzling slightly against them.

Being a vampire had never been easy. She hated having to leech off people’s lifeforce, she hated having to hurt others, she hated not being able to live a normal life.

 

But ever since they were hunted down by those _demons_...she was afraid that, at this rate, their kin would go extinct, and soon.

What did they do to warrant such cruelty, she had no clue, but of one thing she was certain: they wouldn’t go down without a fight.

 

At least, in such an ill fate they had the luck of forming a community of vampires. She wasn’t sure she would have managed to meet any others elseway...which prompted the next question.

 

“Any news from Kaito?” she paused, unsure if clarifying: “...any more fallen comrades?”

 

Shun sat silent for a while, and for a second his embrace became a bitter grip: “...nine of us yesterday, three towns from here.” he gritted his teeth, and held Ruri closer, his face on her neck, his voice a whisper to her ears, as though someone could hear them: “Everything will be ok. As long as we’re alert, live a regular human life, and keep training, they won’t find us. And if they do, we’ll be ready to give them _hell_.”

 

Ruri could only nod, fighting back tears.

 

* * *

 

Ray clicked her tongue in disapproval, going through the latest report.

 

“Lady Akaba, as you can see we have not only met, but even _exceeded_ this month’s quota,” the younger woman broke the silence, her superior’s reaction worrying her: “It won’t take long until our debt is repaid.”

 

“Hm, it won’t take long until vampires are extinct, either,” bitterly retorted Ray, sliding down the paper on her desk, and elegantly crossing her fingers so her face could rest on them: “and when that happens, tell me, commander Tyler, how will we exactly pay our debt?”

 

Grace was going to reply, but her twin Gloria squeezed her arm.

 

Ray tilted slightly her head, a dark glint in her eyes: “I appreciate your zeal, commanders, I really do, and as much as I’d like for this to be over with as soon as possible...we simply can’t. We need that scum to keep surviving so they can procreate, and _then_ we can kill them. Because if we run out of lesser demons to sacrifice before our debt is repaid, then I’m afraid we’ll have to start sacrificing _those who really matter_.”

 

The redhead stood up, slowly circling the twins to reach for the door, not breaking eye contact.

“You should be grateful I’ve found this loophole so that we don’t have to offer our own people to _them_ ,” she spat, opening the door: “don’t make me regret this. You’re dismissed.”

 

Gloria promptly saluted, followed by Grace, and the two exited the office trying not to hurry.

Ray closed the door and gave a deep sigh, letting herself fall on the armchair behind her desk. She didn’t need this too. She had more urgent matters at her hands at the moment.

 

It had been a couple days that she felt her soul burning up...she was almost positively sure that meant her last piece had met _his_ last one, at last. She’d better secure all of them, before they could end up instinctively fight each other. Or worse, side by each other’s side.

 

Her blackened wings rustled with excitement, as she descended the secret dungeon hidden in her office. It was finally time. She was still afraid the two pieces under her influence weren’t ready, but given the circumstances they had to. And she wasn’t as ill mannered as to not let _him_ know.

 

“Are you up, sleepyhead~?”

 

As the heavy door opened, there was Zarc’s familiar sight. Bound and weakened, like he should be. He groaned at the sound of Ray’s voice, feebly trying to pull against his restraints. If he had to spend eternity chained to this goddamn rock in a dark, moldy dungeon, then at least they could spare him the mental suffering of seeing and hearing her.

 

“ _What do you want?_ ” he growled, his pride kicking in to not appear weak in front of her.

 

“I think my last sigil has found your last little pawn, at last,” Ray practically purred the words, enjoying the effect it had on him, washing over him like a cold wave: “Which means it’s time for us to end this, don’t you think? We both wasted way too much time on this story, and my people are still paying for your disastrous visions of grandeur.”

 

The chains rattled with greater force, containing Zarc’s fury: “ _Yours.._ ?! Those are MY people you’re talking of! All of this is mine, _MINE_!”

 

“They could have still been, were it not for that huge ego of yours,” Ray’s purple eyes glowed fiery with a hint of red: “but standing up against the Creator and Falling wasn’t enough, was it? No, you had to try and bring forth your own little apocalypse, when it’s been already settled it shall come in _decades_!”

 

Her hair flowed dangerously in the air for a moment, the tips cracking with fire, before the demoness shook her head, garnering her composure back.

 

“But we’ve already discussed this one time too many. Rules are rules, and we’re paying to those stuck-ups above what _you’re_ due. I only wanted to tell you how things are before you fall into slumber again.”

 

Zarc widened his eyes, pulling at his binds in almost desperation: “Slumber…? Wait, does that mean…!!”

 

“Yes,” she interrupted: “I’m sending ‘him’ away from Academia, and the Underworld as a whole, for a while. And I don’t think you’ll have enough energy to stay conscious once you won’t have at least one of your pawns around.”

 

“They’re not _pawns_ , and you can’t do this,” he hissed.

“I can _and I will_ ,” she retorted. She paused an instant, and caressed Zarc’s cheek briefly, lost in thought. He immediately recoiled at the touch.

 

“It is truly such a pity,” she murmured, and Zarc saw the softer eyes of the woman he fell in love with for a moment: “to think things could have gone so differently...but even if I were to free you now, what’s lost is lost. You’d only restart your cycle of destruction again.”

 

For a second Zarc wanted to tell her that _no, he could change, they could still make things work_ ; but words got stuck between his throat and his pride, and he knew they wouldn’t be the truth anyways.

 

Ray left the dungeon, and Zarc knew this may very well be the last time he would see her again.

He knew he had fallen for a more than competent woman, afterall.

 

* * *

 

Serena was buzzing with excitement, taking two steps up the stairs at a time.

 

Finally, her moment had come! She always thought it would have been the Professor the one giving her a special, life-fulfilling mission, especially after he forbade her from joining the Aequilibrium mission; the fact she had been called by Lady Ray was a surprise, but a welcome one.

 

On her way up, she almost bumped against Yuri, who was going the opposite way and appeared very pleased.

 

A look of disappointed washed over Serena’s face for a moment: “...so she called you, as well? Before _me_?”

“Don’t take it personally, Serena, everyone at Academia knows I’m always a step above you~” he teased.

“You wish,” she smirked, pushing him a couple steps down to emphasize her point: “What did she ask of you, in any case? Surely nothing special.”

Yuri grinned, clearly enjoying keeping the girl on her toes: “Oh, I’m very sorry, my moonflower, but I’m afraid it’s classified information. Top secret, very important mission and all that, I’m sure you understand.”

 

Serena was going to angrily reply, but the boy swiftly took her hand, gently placing a kiss atop it with a mischievous smile: “The only thing I can share with you is that I need to find three girls with a pretty face just as yours, and treat them with the _utmost care~_ ”

 

The girl quickly retreated her hand, crossing her arms so he couldn’t take a hold of it anymore -and turning her head so he wouldn’t see her blush- : “Umph, doesn’t sound _that_ special to me. And you’d better go, if they see us interacting we’ll be in trouble, mister!”

 

Yuri slightly bowed to her, his expression never changing, and trotted down the stairs.

 

It was only when he was out of sight and her heartbeat calmed down that Serena lingered on his words. It was already unsettling enough that her face was nearly identical to Lady Ray’s, but _three_ girls with the same face as her…?

 

She shook her head in disbelief. No, Yuri must have worded that wrong. That shameless flatterer probably meant his targets were girls as pretty as herself. It had to be.

 

In any case, she had no time to ponder on that; Lady Ray was waiting for her.

 

Once entering the office, Serena did her best not to look as winded as she was. Thankfully, Lady Ray was busy looking over some paperwork, an eager look on her face. She quickly perked up though, motioning for Serena to sit.

 

“Serena, I am so pleased to finally be able to rely this mission on you!” started the older demoness, clasping her hands together: “It’s a mission of extreme importance, you have to promise me that nobody, and I repeat, nobody, ever gets word of this. Understood?”

 

The girl could only nod, afraid if she dared speak a word her excitement would burst through.

 

“Very well. I am sure you are at least acquainted with one of our elite soldiers, Yuri, right?” there was a slight distaste when she said it, Serena noticed, but focused anyways on the screens that had lit up behind Ray, showing a mugshot of Yuri.

 

“Yes, ma’am. Hard not to, with his curriculum preceding him.”

 

Ray narrowed her eyes, but nodded. “Good. You have to know that there are other three boys sharing his very same face. But while Yuri is a precious ally of ours, these three boys are nothing but trouble, and won’t hesitate to bring us down if they knew of us.”

 

Serena wanted to press for more details, but knew better than to question a superior.

 

“One of our scouts has already found one of the boys in question,” as Ray talked, another mugshot appeared next to Yuri’s. This boy had crystal blue eyes and a strange, blue and yellow spiky hairdo, but otherwise his face was identical to Yuri’s. “I will give you the proper coordinates so that you can go after him. The same scout who found him will accompany you, so that he can help you finding the other two afterwards.”

 

“What am I to do with the boys once I’ve found them, ma’am?”

 

Ray’s eyes darkened, and for the first time in her life Serena felt afraid of her.

 

“My dear child, I want you to completely _annihilate_ them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I can get updates on this at a good enough pace---knowing myself, a chapter per month will already be a miracle xD  
> It's one of the very first AUs me and my brother came up with, so probably I'll have to fix some stuff from the original outline as I go, but hopefully everything will get along nicely!
> 
> I have LOTS of other AUs/stories I want to share about Arc-V (mainly royal ones...I have like 4 orz; ), so this story may be delayed in favor of keeping up also with upcoming series. I just really love coming up with new stuff for this lovely cast of characters, let's just hope I can keep up with everything xD 
> 
> Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed so far ♥


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